Systemic erasure of Adivasi histories demands museum decolonisation, not tokenism
Original framing: “Vijender Gupta urges museums to spotlight tribal histories, heritage” — bing news
Adivasi epistemologies view heritage as relational and living, not as static artifacts to be curated by state institutions. Museums, as colonial constructs, often reduce tribal histories to 'exhibits' while erasing their spiritual and communal significance. The demand for recognition must include Indigenous-led governance of cultural institutions, not just surface-level inclusion.
The Vijender Gupta headline exemplifies how state actors instrumentalise Indigenous symbols to project progressive intent while perpetuating colonial structures.
Museums, as archives of power, are not neutral spaces but extensions of casteist and colonial governance that extract knowledge without accountability. A systemic solution requires dismantling these institutions’ authority, replacing them with Indigenous-led governance models that treat heritage as a living, relational practice—not a commodity. The cross-cultural parallels (e.g., Māori repatriation, African restitution) reveal that decolonisation is not a singular act but a continuous struggle against epistemic violence. The 'trickster' insight exposes the absurdity of performative allyship: Gupta’s call for museums to 'spotlight' tribal histories rings hollow when his party’s policies dismantle tribal land rights and education access. True systemic change demands not just representation, but restitution and reparative justice.